Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1887-08-20
THE WATER SYSTEM.
The Supply from River and Mountain
Streams-Artesian Wells, Etc.

miles, and gives navigation to the whole
county the year round. The largest steam
ers plow its current daily in its varied
commerce.
In the western portion Of the county
there are numerous streams draining the
mountains and hill sides. Between the
high line of the foothills and the Coast
Range proper there are many clear living
mountain streams. On the south there
is Bear creek, that rises in High valley,
and receiving other streams, runs south
twenty miles through Bear valley and Joins
Cache creek in Yolo county. North Of
this creek
THE TRIBUTARIES OF STONY CREEK
Take their rise Indian creek runs through
beautiful valley of that name for twenty
miles and empties into the Stony. There
are also large number Of other tributaries
of the Stony, which are known by the
names of those who first settled upon their
banks. Little Stony rises on the north
of Mount St. Johns and Elk creek on the
north side of that mountain peak. The
Grindstone is large, rapid stream that
has its source in the Coast Range, near the
northern county line In the winter,
spring and early summer Stony creek
runs full banked and carries great vol
ume Of water to the Sacramento river.
BEAR CREEK,
Running south to Cache creek, and Stony
creek, drains the whole western portion of
the county. Between the drainage basins
of these streams, and the Sacramento, there
is large area of the foothills with an
eastern inclination that gives rise to a
great number of smaller streams the course
of which is toward the Sacramento. In all
the hilly and mountainous, portions Of the
county there are
GREAT NUMBER OF LIVING SPRINGS
Which break forth from the mountain and
|.hillsides. On the plains the water from
the Sacramento percolates in the subsoils
clear back to the foothills Near that
stream water is found within six to ten
feet of the surface and at the foothills it
is reached in inexhaustible quantities at
depths varying from ten to fifteen feet
Everywhere in the foothills and mountains
good well water is found at from fifteen to
thirty feet from the surface.
The streams above mentioned, with the
springs and wells, furnish an ample supply
of water for domestic use and for stock.
The water that goes TO waste from Stony
creek alone would food all the valley por-
tion of Colusa county several times a year.
There are many places in the canyons and
gorges of the mountains where, with COM
paratively small expense, immense reser-
voirs could be made. There are such
places at the heads of hundreds of ravines
along the foothills from the northern TO the
southern boundary the county. Enough
water could be stored in the foothills
of the Coast Range to supply any amount OF
water. From the Sacramento river all the
water needed for any and all purposes could
be obtained. Wells, sunk to the gravel
strata which underlie the river, afford
such quantities of water as to be practi-
cally inexhaustible by powerful steam
pumps.
FLOWING ARTESIAN WELLS
Are another peculiar advantage of this
| favored county. Sometime in the first halt
of the year 1856 the writer of this article
| addressed letter to State Engineer Hall
asking his opinion as to the probability oi
| finding flowing artesian water in the Sacra-
mento valley. In reply, under date OF
April 6, 1886, MIR. Hall wrote long cleal
and able letter, giving the geology Of every
artesian district or belt so FAR developed il
this State. That part of his letter relating
to the geology and the proha!.ility of find
ing water in Colusa county j. given below
STATE ENGINEER HALL REPORT.
| He says {: "Now as to the west side O
the Sacramento valley we have some diff
ferent grounds to go upon. The formation
of the plain is different from that on til,
east; more like that of the southern val
| leys described. Its streams, commencin!
with Stony creek, and thence to and in
Guiding Cache creek, are more ike thos,
of Kern, Tulare, Fresno and Merced on tn,
east side.
There is vast quantity of water los
in the bed of Stony creek, for instance
Where does it go? 1t may sink into som,
peImeable strata and find its way therein
down the valley, as do the waters of on
southern streams. Now, if these STRAIT;
alternate with layers OF clay, that water i
under pressure at points beneath the plain
at the lower levels.
But we must remember that this forma
tion is from the Coast Range, whereas thos,
of the southern part of the valley are troh
! the Sierra Nevada range The question
of geological origin of the materials of, anc
agencies of the formation of the valley
may here have an important bearing. |
is too much of a question, and sayors to,
much of the mere speculation, to be takel
up in this letter.
TO close the matter briefly, think tha
| there is sufficient reason to hope for tn,
existence of an artesian basin or stratum
under the west side of the Sacrament,
valley, and not at great depth, TO iustify
trial in discovering it. But, admitting
this conclusion to be well founded, it is We
Il grave question in my mind whether tn,
water will rise to the surface suficien |,
high up towards the FOOT ills on the pain.
to afford the supply where most needed.
To be as definite as there are an,
grounds for attempting to be, l should say
| that artesian water is more likely to bt
found on or about the locality of the rang,
line between townships and west, from
some point opposite Jacinto south to point
opposite Colusa, than elsewhere in the val
ley. This line you observe follows neal
the trough of the valley. taken as whole
As We go east from it we soon encounter
the range of hard land between Marysville
Bu;tes. lying in the middle of the valley
and the point of mountains near OroviIle
underlying which, in the plain, is probably
a connecting ridge which determined the
course of the Feather river to the eastward
of the Buttes, so that it did not take the
shortest course to the main drain in the
bottom of the valley.
Because of this probability, l do moi
think this basin, if it exists, extends more
than very short distance east of the
river. West of our axis of the supposed
basin, we can go only about nine miles ere
We encounter land too high to admit Of
the water rising under the head we have
supposed for it-from The neighborhood OF
Stony creek. Coming southeast down
the valley. such basin would naturally
, dip and be far below the surface between
Sacramento and Davisville. But there
may be other superposed strata fed by
waters draining in from Cache and other
creeks southerly therefrom.
But here again other considerations
come in which render doubtful that sufii-
cient head of pressure could be aecumu-
lated in this strata 20 make the water rise
to the surface it tapped, except in the
swamp or tule lands. Meanwhile, | should
recommend that if trial is to be
made for artesian water in the val
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